Method and apparatus for conveying glass from forming devices



June .24, 1930. BOUDI 1,767,914

. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR NVEYING GLASS FROM FORMING DEVICES Filed April 4, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet l I gwve ntoe June 24, 1930. L. BOUDIN 1,

} METHOD AND APPARATU'S'FOR CONVEYING GLASS FROM FORMING DEVICES Filed April 4, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

ATTbRNEY.

Patented June 24, 1936 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE LOUIS BOUDIN, OF 'ST. GOBAIN, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR TO 'SOCIETE ONYME DES EMANU- JFACTURES DES 'GLAGES & .IPRODUITS OHIMZEQUES DE SAINTFGOBAIN, CHAUNY &

' CIREY, OF PARIS, FRANCE v METHOD. AND APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING GLASS FROM. FORMTNG DEVICES Application filed April 4,1929, Serial N 'o.

' ing machine and for the transportation of thesheet to the entrance of the lehrs has been a movable table made of refractory elements 'mounte'don a carriage.

7 While one sheet is 'being'rolled the table is advanced at a rate of speed at least equal to that of rolling, so as to avoid exerting any force on the glass capable of making IOlClS or creases in the sheets. When this is done the table is stopped opposite the entrance to the lehr and the sheet manually pr mechanically shoved from off the table into the lehr, the table then returned to its po1nt of starting for a new operation.

This method of transport presents the fol-r lowing disadvantages: v A

v(1) The slightest roughness or inequality in the upper surface of the refractory elements of the table is imparted to the lower surface of the still plastic glass sheets which makes contact with this refractory material.

The result is that the lower surfaces of the sheetare not smooth, but dull and more or less rough.

(2) These alterations of the glass are accentuated by dislocations and fractures of the refractory material of the table apparatus, due to successive heating and cooling and the reciprocatory movements of the table, the result being inequalities in the level of the glass sheets, which frequently cause breakage during transport .anduse.

- r In the manufacture of impressed glass the design is dimmed or distorted by reason of the contact of the glass plates with the .re-

fractory material, and in some casescountor-reliefs :areformed on the non-imprinted glass rolling plants.

352,636, and in France October 30, 1926.

The present invention is intended to elimina'te these defects.

It consists in replacing the movable table by a series of rollers, actuated mechanically, arranged parallel with the rolling cylinders, and at right angles to the entrance of the lehr,,so that the sheets of rolledglass move horizon-tally over a plane determined by the upper generatrices of the rollers, the peripheral speed thereof durin-g'the time the sheet is being fed to the table being equal to or slightly greater than the speed of sheet formation, for the purpose of carrying along the sheets. I V 1 Preferably, the axes of the rollers are carried on a chassis which may be fixed or movable, for example, mounted on a carriage which is held stationary during operative periods and which may be moved to facili-;

tate access to "the rolling machine and l'ehr during inoperative periods.

In order to preventbending or distortion of the head of each sheet, the spaces between the rollers may be provided, particularly in the first part of the path of the sheets, with filling bars, the upper plane of which is slightly below the plane ofthe upper generatrices of the rollers, and on which the head of the sheet slides to pass from one to the next roller. v

The rollers may be driven either by the the.

elements of the rolling'machine, or by the drive mechanism of the latter, or by an independent drive.

These rollers, as well as the filling bars, may be of metal or of a material which is a non-conductor of heat. Their surface may be smooth or provided with-portions in relief, so as to reduce thearea in contact with the glass. Their surfaces may, for example, be channelled, eitheraxially of the rollers or in a direction perpendicular or inclined with respect to the :aXis of the-rollers and the channelsmay differ in character andposition in'each roller. A simple method consists in helically winding on the tubes which form the rollers meta-l wires welded to said tubes, the direction of the winding dilfering in different rollers. r

Practice has shown:

lop

7 Y vention.

thereof without the necessity of stopping oreven slowing the rotary movement of the rolls. r

The accompanying drawingsshow by way of example several embodiments of thein- Fig. 1 is an elevation and Fig. 2 a plan View of the apparatus embodying my invention, and adapted to carrying out the process hereinafter claimed. 7

. Figs?) and/i are elevations of a structure embodying my nvention placed between two rolling machines and adapted to be used with either. p r I F igs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 illustrate diflierent types of rollers.

A is the rolling machine, such for. instance as that known as a Chance machine, of

- which are shown only the two rolls 8 and C and the tablet D which supports the glass plate E on its exit from said machine. As is well known forming machines of this kind produce disconnected sheets. 7 p h 'F is the chassis of the table mounted on the wheels G whichrun on tracks H.

Carried by the chassis are bearings 1 in whichtlie shafts J of rollers K are mounted. Gears L, keyed to theshafts J,are driven by V the worms M on a longitudinal shaft N actu- 'ated through the clutch R by amechanism O which receives its movement either from the machine A or a motor O'. The clutch permits the ready disconnection ofparts on the carriage from the forming machine 0f the forming machine.

E, after passing from the rollsB, descends onto tablet D and passes over rollers K. The :head of the stillsoft plate is guided by the to support the forward ends of when the former is withdrawn. Filling bars P are placed between the initial rollersK.

and slightly below the upper surface thereof the glass sheets. 7 H I j Q is the lehr, theentrance to which is opposite therollers K, which are in front thereof, so that ,the upper plane "of the generatrices ofthe latter are in the exten sion of the plane ofthe floor of the lehr.

.The operation is as follows:

The clutchR is engaged, which causes the rotation ofthe rollers of he apparatus. A

quantity of glasssufiicient for the formation of a plate is placed in front of the rolls B C The lass plate filling strips P, which prevents it from engaging between the rollers K.

When the sheet rests entirely upon the rollers it is shoved into the lehr, moving parallel with the axes of the rollers, without it being necessary to stop the movement of the latter.

011 Fig. 3 the roller apparatus is placed between two forming machines A and A which may alternately supply sheets to the table and then to the. lehr. I For this. purpose the shaft N has a clutch R B on each end by which it may be actuated at will by driving mechanism 0 of forming machine A or by mechanism' 0 of forming machine The' rollers of the table maybe thus caused to alternately rotate in one direction and in the other, accordingly 'as'they receive sheets from one or the other of the forming machines. 1

In order to reduce the number of contact surfaces of the sheets as they become cooled in moving over the apparatus, and thus need 1 less support, the distance between these rollers is increased progressively. This arrangement is not applicable where'the apparatus serves two rolling machines except always feeding it from the same end which may be accomplished by turning it about end for end after having served one machine in order to serve the other I V For "this purpose the apparatus maybe constructed in two parts, as shown on Fig. 4L. The lower part or carriage S, which is mounted on the wheels G, carries a pivot T, about which the upper part of frame U,

carrying the rollers K and thedriveshaft N, may rotate. Lifting jacks V, suspended to the frame U, permit of holding the apparatus stationary in one or the other of the operative positions, bearing on the socketsVV.

By preference the roller bed formed the rollers, K is considerably longer than the sheet to be formed,the forming machine being remote from the side of the lehr,a's shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and'the motors O, O and 0 are a variable speed'motor. With such a construction, during the delivery of the sheet the rollers K are driven at a peripheral speed equal to or slightly greater than that oft-he speed of sheet formation,

bed, the speed of the driving mechanism,

and thus of the forming rolls andtof the and after theformationhas been completed i and-the sheet has been delivered to'thef'roller rollers of the "bed isgreducedfiso =that -the sheet may cool to the. desired extent before it is brought opposite the mouth of the lehr in a position to be shoved off into the lehr. Obviously this'varlation in, speed may be dispensedwith if the sheet of glass, is sufficiently thin, or by making the-roller bed of greater length, or cooling the sheet. 7' This application containsthe full dis;

I claim is and mechanism for receiving the sheets therefrom as formed comprising a plurality of rollers driven at a peripheral speed slightly in excess of the speed of sheet formation, located in front of the lehr, and'having their axes parallel to the line of feed into the lehr.

2. The combination with a lehr, of a machine for forming discontinuous glass sheets, a mechanism for receiving the sheetstherefrom as formed, comprising, a movable carriage carrying a plurality of sheet supporting rollers located in front of the lehr and having their axes parallel to the line of feed into the lehr, and means for driving the rollers at a peripheral speed slightly-in excess of the speed of the sheet formation comprising a shaft mounted on the carriage and a clutch by which it may be connected to and driven from the drive of the sheet-forming mechanism. 7

3. The combination with a lehr, of a ma- :3 chine forming discontinuous glass sheets,

and mechanism for receiving the sheets therefrom as formed comprising a plurality of rollers driven at a peripheral speed slightly in excess of the speed of sheet formation, located in front of the lehr, and having their axes parallel to the line of feed into the lehr, the surfaces of the rolls being.

channelled. I V

4. The combination with a lehr, of a machine forming discontinuous glass sheets,

and mechanism for receiving the sheets therefrom as formed comprisinga plurality of rollers driven ata peripheral speed sli htly in excess of the speed of sheet formation, located in front of the lehr, and having their axes parallel to the line of feed into the lehr, the rolls having channelled surfaces, the channels on different rolls running in different directions.

5. The combination with a lehr, of a machine forming discontinuous glass sheets,

and mechanism for receiving the sheets therefrom as formed comprlsing a plurality of rollers driven at aperipheralspeed slightly in excess of the speed of sheet formation,

6. The combination with a lehr, of two machines for forming discontinuous glass sheets, a mechanism for receiving sheets from either of said machines comprising a plurality of sheet supporting rollers located in front of the lehr and between the sheet forming machines, and having their axes parallel to the line of feed into the lehr, and means for driving the rollers at a peripheral speed slightly in excess of the speed of sheet formation, comprising clutches connectable'to the drive of either sheet former.

7. The hereinbefore described method of delivering glass sheets from a discontinuous sheet forming machine to a lehr, which comprises recelvlng the sheets as-formed on a series of rollers, conveying the sheets by the rotation of rollers across the mouth of a lehr, and feeding the sheets into the lehr by sliding them on the rolls lengthwise thereof.

8. The hereinbefore described method of delivering glass sheets from a discontinuous sheet forming machine to a lehr, which comrises receivin the sheets as formed on a series of rollers, conveying'the sheets by the rotation of rollers across the mouth of a lehr, and feeding the sheets into the lehr by sliding them on the rolls lengthwise thereof while the rollers are rotating.

9'. The combination with a lehr, of an intermittent glass sheet forming machine,

mechanism for receiving glass sheets therefrom, comprising a roller bed, extending across the entrance of the lehr, and comprising rollers, the axes of which are parallel to the feed through the lehr, and means for driving said rollers at the speed of sheet formation and at a lower speed. I

. In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature. 7

' LOUIS BOUDIN.

located in front of the lehr, and having their axes parallel to the line of feed into the lehr, filling bars being located between the adjacent initial rollers ata levelfslightly below the upper generatrices, thereof/ 

